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Economic Armageddon this week

“Barack Obama has warned the United States is on the brink of an ‘economic Armageddon’ — Bloomberg

President Obama is right, but for the wrong reason. The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines Armageddon as: the “final and conclusive battle between the forces of good and evil.”

President Obama was referring to the potential consequences of not raising the debt ceiling. But in reality it is the very debate over government spending that has become Armageddon, the ultimate battle between those who see more spending as good and those who see more spending as evil.

It is a struggle for the heart and soul of America.

I don’t use the word “evil” lightly. At risk, though, is the America that we have always known: the greatest nation on earth, the most prosperous in history, the grand experiment that has provided men and women with unprecedented opportunity to achieve their dreams, and a nation that through its prosperity and goodness has relieved more suffering worldwide than any other.

Whether they realize it or not (some do, some don’t), those in Washington fighting for more spending are destroying that America. Leading the charge are cynical career politicians and the Washington establishment, having sold their souls for the comfortable status quo, easy re-election and avoiding hard decisions, the assurance of a lobbying job when they are done with “public service,” and the “good life” afforded by the money of special interests.

Joining them are the well-intentioned but misguided politicians who cannot see past the pain required to really cut government spending, or who hope (against all facts and logic) that America can continue to nibble away at the margins of our spending and still survive. Allied with these two types of leaders in the cause of more evil spending is the massive organism known as the federal government, an almost-living entity, geared by its very nature toward self-preservation and expansion of its power.

This unholy alliance has already significantly damaged America and our economy with policies that have delivered unemployment chronically above 9 percent, one in seven Americans on food stamps, almost $5 trillion in new debt, so-called stimulus money and TARP funds going to foreign countries and banks, and the real threat of a double-dip recession and complete loss of confidence in the U.S. dollar and our markets.

The revolutionary concept of a constitutionally limited central government created the conditions for America to become the land of opportunity. Now Washington’s out-of-control spending is killing the miracle that underpins America. Yet even in the midst of our decline, the Washington establishment fights to preserve its remaining power, tempting the forces of good with “debt deals” gilded with “promises” of cuts over 10 years in exchange for more debt today.

The Washington establishment blocks all threats, such as legislation to cut spending now, cap future spending and implement a balanced budget amendment. They cynically warn of economic meltdown to stampede our leaders into borrowing $2.4 trillion more without making changes to Washington’s spendthrift ways — thus assuring the economic meltdown they claim to be trying to prevent.

Americans are suffering, and only a Washington politician would think that the best medicine is more pain in the form of more deficit spending and a skyrocketing national debt. If we continue down this path, the most prosperous nation in history will be destroyed.

All is not lost, however. In this battle of Armageddon, the forces of good are rallying and have the opportunity to turn the tide. Comprising the army of good are leaders and citizens who realize that, to exorcise the immoral spending culture of Washington, we must first make realcuts to restore our economy and put government back in its proper, constitutional place. Then we must protect America against Washington’s cynical power games by implementing structural changes in our system: a balanced budget amendment limiting spending to a percentage of GDP, term limits, and the Repeal Amendment, allowing the states to come together to block overreaching federal regulation.

We finally have learned Edmund Burke‘s admonition: “When bad men combine, the good must associate; else they will fall one by one, an unpitied sacrifice in a contemptible struggle.” It is time to finally demand long-term financial solvency. It is time to demand that our leaders make the tough choices and really cut spending. It is time for a gut check for all Americans: Which side are you on? Are you prepared to stand up against those who would destroy the America we have known?

Article originally published at http://www.dailypress.com. Radtke, a Republican candidate from Virginia in the 2012 election for the U.S. Senate, is the former president of the RichmondTea Party and is chairwoman emeritus of the Virginia Tea Party Patriots Federation.